For the past 50 years, Westmont has been using a 16-inch telescope and now, with the new powerful
DFM research-grade telescope, Westmont College is taking another step forward in science education
and transforming the physics department.

It features more than twice the light-gathering power of the old one and nearly twice the resolution.

The telescope will be a magnet for astronomy enthusiasts around Santa Barbara and the South
Coast,
says Michael Sommermann, a Westmont physics professor.

It will become a focal point for astronomical research by faculty and students in areas such
as the photometry of variable stars, minor planet observations, and much more.